Minimally invasive medical techniques are intended to reduce the amount of tissue that is damaged during diagnostic or surgical procedures, thereby reducing patient recovery time, discomfort, and deleterious side effects. A stereoscopic endoscope may be inserted into a patient's body cavity to view a surgical scene during a minimally invasive surgical procedure. The surgical scene includes tissue structures and may include one or more surgical instruments inserted into the body cavity. Tissue and tool surface features may be difficult to visually discern due to uniform of tissue color or tissue smoothness, for example. Structured light has been used to discern contours and depth in a scene. However, space to project structured light is extremely limited within an endoscopic camera used to perform minimally invasive surgery.